Ever dream of living like a famous Hollywood actor?
Next month could come your chance. That is, if you have a few million dollars to spend.
(Update: Actor Kevin Spacey’s Baltimore home to be auctioned June 13)
An auction date has been set for the $5 million Inner Harbor home of actor Kevin Spacey. Formerly listed as “Baltimore’s most extraordinary home,” the house is scheduled for public auction Thursday, Feb. 29 — Leap Day.
The debt collection firm of McCabe, Weisberg & Conway listed the auction date on its website. A time was not listed, but auctions are held on the steps of the Baltimore Circuit Court. A winning bidder would be required to pay a deposit and, according to the firm, that amount has not been set. In addition, the starting bid remains unknown until the auction begins.
Spacey has time to catch up on his mortgage payments and avoid the sale, but the foreclosure has been pending for more than a year without resolution. Court records show a mediation session in August failed to produce a settlement.
The homeowner’s identity had been a matter of speculation until recently. The distinctive South Baltimore house — 9,000 square feet, floating on a pier — sold in 2017 to a Los Angeles company, Clear Toaster LLC. Spacey’s name did not appear on the paperwork. The house sold for $5.65 million.
At that time, the actor was at the height of his fame, starring as the ruthless politician Frank Underwood in the hit Netflix series “House of Cards.” Rumors swirled that Spacey had bought the house, but his manager claimed to be the mystery buyer.
Then came the #MeToo movement and Spacey was sued in Manhattan for allegedly making a sexual advance on a teenage boy in the 1980s. Jurors sided with Spacey in the case.
Nine months later, a London jury acquitted Spacey of sexual assault. The actor told jurors in London that he had been out of work for six years since the first sex abuse allegations came out against him.
The Manhattan case forced Spacey to disclose that he had bought the mansion as his permanent, long-term home. He told the court that the title of Clear Toaster was used to protect his privacy.
An attorney representing Clear Toaster in the foreclosure case has not returned messages. Spacey has not returned messages from The Banner, including letters left at his home.
The actor keeps a low profile in Baltimore, though he’s occasionally recognized while walking his dog. Last year, he took the stage unannounced to sing at the Keystone Korner Baltimore jazz club.
Otherwise, he’s mostly appeared to the public with his annual Christmas messages performed in the character of Frank Underwood. He channeled Underwood again last month during an interview with Tucker Carlson.
Spacey seemed to delight in blurring the lines between actor and character.
“What’s true, what’s fake?,” he said to Carlson. “What’s life, what’s art? What’s real, what’s performance? I love it when these things intersect because then it gets interesting.”
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